Keep aggressive tang or trade back to store???

[overraded]

Looking for advice/experience with what to do for an aggressive tang.

150 gallon reef tank. Tank is relatively new and been set up for about 4 months now.
3 tangs. Yellow, Kole, Sailfin. (I had 4 tangs but the blue hippo tang recently died). Fish were all peaceful with this set up.
Yellow tang is the largest fish. After blue hippo died, the yellow became the dominant fish and super aggressive to the Sailfin. Yellow tang kept the sailfin in boxed into the corner of the tank and wouldn't let it out to eat or swim. I let this go on for a few days thinking it would dissipate but it got worse. Last night I caught the yellow tang in a trap and its now in the sump.

My ideas on going forward:
1. Is it possible to reintroduce the YT after a few days in the sump and have a better outcome? How long should I keep the tang in the sump?
2. Should I trade fish back to store and get a smaller YT?
3. I've been thinking of adding a blue throat trigger. Should I add both fish at same time to help neutralize the aggression

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[fishguy242]

hi i would trade in bully try smaller and yes add trigger same time ,assuming after qt them ,happy reefing ,nice tank!!

 

[cancun]

Hi! I agree.... take the bulky back to the store. In my experience once a bully always a bully. I personally have not had luck reintroducing the bully fish back into the tank with no issues. Nice tank and good luck!

 

[nereefpat]

What are the dimensions of that tank? You might not be able to keep multiple tangs in there.

 

[overraded]

What are the dimensions of that tank? You might not be able to keep multiple tangs in there.

Its a tall tank. Had it custom made to get a matching bookshelf on opposite side of fire place.
45"L
22"W
37"H

Could be 45" tank is not long enough to keep a YT happy with enough room to swim?

 

[nereefpat]

That looks awesome!

The sailfin and yellow are so closely related that they may not tolerate each other in a 4' tank, so that is some of what you're seeing.

The hippo and sailfin aren't great choices for that tank shape anyway. So I would actually get rid of the sailfin.

I would keep the yellow and kole, and see if they will get along. They probably will. If they don't, then make that choice.